The Keep of the Einshold was busy with the movement of Hoshin. The battle between The Einshold and Zweihold had been settled and as winter would soon set in ever harsher, Orys' Detachment of 113 men were to travel to Lugnica to reunite with the main force of the Hoshin Company in the Capital. The wagons overflowed from the keep and a large group of land dragons was assembled and ready to head towards Priestella which in the 3 months since Dima's arrival have allowed select groups to cross the Tigracy.
Dima and another man Joren were loading up a set of wagons in the courtyard of the keep at the heart of the Einshold. They were the two muscular ones out of the thin men and women that made up the rest of Orys' Detachment. The lord was to arrive early the next morning and Orys wanted them to set out as early as possible.
By noon the pair had finished loading the wagons and went to the mess hall for lunch. The two were stoic and large however, Dima's 6'1 in height was unmatched compared to Joren's 6'5. Once they entered one of their comrades shouted out to them
"Dima, come sit over here!". It was Martina, a former local petty thief turned mercenary with short brown hair. She sat at the far corner of the square mess hall near the fireplace towards the right from the door that came in via the courtyard. "We got the good stuff today!" she exclaimed. When Dima moved to the kettle sitting over the fireplace he looked in to see she was right, they'd gotten beef stew for the first time in weeks.
Upon Dima grabbing a bowl and ladling in a hearty helping of stew into it, another comrade of his he was friendly with Hanz, a young black spiked hair Vollachian seeking glory and part of the original team sent to the Einshold.
"Yo Dima, you and Joren are done?" He asked in his stupid tone. Dima simply nodded his head in return. "Aw c'mon can you at least speak to me I was on guard duty last night, I was runnin round town, some dude was stealing stupid shit like animal fat and hay all night,".
"Sorry about that," Dima replied in a dry tone.
"Man, I wanted you to say something more substantial than 'sorry about that' man I can't get anything," Hanz replied in a jokingly sad tone of voice.
"What'd you expect from Dima," Martina said mocking Hanz.
"Shut up," Hanz replied, walking towards the Kettle to grab some stew. He then promptly sat next to Dima still leaving Joren to be left unbothered. The three scarfed down their food while Martina and Hanz had a friendly debate of something stupid like who was the better swordsman, the stew, or something, at least from Dima's point of view.
"Listen I'm saying if we had a duel I'd last longer than you and your noodle arms!".
"Hanz you're still clunky as hell with a real sword, while I am graceful. And you also have noodle arms!".
"Shut up, let's instead ask the man in question, Orys' best soldier,". Hanz replied with confidence to Martina.
After a few seconds of silence, as Dima got up and threw his bowl into the bin for dirty dishes, he said simply "You'd both last a few seconds,".
The two looked at each other in disarray as Dima left the room and went back out into the snow-infested courtyard. Orys was looking over the carts when he came out of the mess hall. Cloaked in his pure white coat Orys turned around to talk with Dima.
"How's it feeling knowing you're going to go south again eh,".
"No different than before," Dima replied.
Orys had a slight laugh before saying "Y'know, if Anastasia becomes queen I'll become a knight. It's my dream. She might make you one too if you're valuable enough. She can be shrewd at times but in what little time I've conversed with her she seems like someone who can bring Lugnica to greatness, eliminate the bordering minor countries, and firmly establish the kingdom. It may come at a great price but I believe it will end up fine in the end. Dima, are you ready?".
"For what?".
"To become a legend,".
Dima stared down for a second before uttering "By my own hand I will,".
"Dima, you have become my brother over these months, I have no doubt you will. I must take my leave, some of our men reported stolen firewood from a villager and that they will surely die of the cold unless we find the culprit,".
"Good luck,".
"Thank you, take care Dima," Orys said as he left through the main gate of the keep towards the town beyond. Dima decided to catch up on some sleep from the night before and went to the barracks to get some ZZZ's.
As he lay in bed for a minute before falling asleep he'd wondered why Minerva had abandoned him, or maybe she found someone else, after all he'd already killed one of the two. But he soon drifted to a short slumber.